An ancient Buddha said, "The entire world is the real body of man, the gateway to detachment, the eye of Vairocana Buddha, and our own dharmakaya." This means that truth is the real body, or, in other words, the entire world is not part of our own body, but is the real body. In regard to this the following question was once asked: "Why am i unaware that the entire world is the real body?" The reply was, "It is because ignorance has prevented true understanding of these words." ...
From the statement "the entire world is the gateway to detachment," we understand that on arriving at this stage we will be free of confusion and attachment. "The entire world" refers to the close relationship between time, thought, and speech; while it in itself is beyond the confines of time and space. A discriminative mind bars entry through the gateway of detachment. If we reflect further on the statement "the entire world is the gateway to detachment," we will realize that seeking the gateway outside ourself is useless.
While Dōgen says that it is our prevailing ignorance that keeps us from realizing this and continuing to waste life's energies defending and fortifying a limited view or who we are, he cautions us at the beginning of the chapter with these words: "The Buddhist Dharma cannot be understood through rational and intellectual study. None who has looked at Buddhism in this way has ever attained enlightenment." While our intellect can start us on the path to understanding, it is imperative that we acknowledge that in the end it will not get us through the gateway; in the end, we have to let go of the intellect if we hope to see through this limited view of ourself.
Given that i think it is obvious that 'the entire world' is our real body, and that it is utter nonsense to think that "I" stop at the outer edges of my skin, the most interesting sentence in this for me is, "'The entire world' refers to the close relationship between time, thought, and speech; while it in itself is beyond the confines of time and space." What does that mean?
We are not limited — what we are, in essence and in fact, is completely beyond the confines of time and space, completely beyond the concepts of time and space. Why? How? Because what we are is all there is, what we are is everything, what we are is infinite unity. Time, space, thoughts, me, you, the earth, the universe, all, nothing, parts... are all inventions of the human mind, made up to explain the universe as we perceive it from the limited perspective we take ourselves to be. The 'whole earth' is life when that perspective is nowhere to be found, when we have broken out of that shell into existence. And there, in that non-duality, there is no confinement, no borders.
Yet, we are ignorant (and i could be the chief ignoramus...). We do live our lives within limited perspectives. We have to in order to function and to keep ourselves out of white jackets with very long sleeves and lots of buckles and to keep ourselves from having to sleep in padded rooms. The world demands acceptance of the limited me.
Then what does he mean by "'The entire world' refers to the close relationship between time, thought, and speech."? The 'entire world' refers to everything, all, nothing lacking, one, not two, so how can there be a relationship between anything? 'Anything' implies parts; duality. Reality is non-dual, but it includes the world of duality, the world we live our day-to-day lives in. And this world, governed, defined, determined, and fixed by our thoughts, includes time and space. The relationship between thoughts, time, and space is a very close and special relationship because without thoughts, time and space wouldn't exist. It is our thoughts that require them and that bring them into existence.
So, when necessary, play the part of the limited being, interact with the other seemingly limited beings to buy your groceries and pay your bills. See through the sham, see the life behind their eyes, but play the game. And, understand that to get ourselves to that gateway, the gateless gate to freedom, we can't look outside. We have to look inside, find a crack between two thoughts, and then crawl through that silence into the unconfined world where there can be no limits because there is nothing that you aren't.
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